In the early 00s, Disney made some questionable decisions and one of those is The Jungle Book 2. Many people think this was another straight-to-DVD Disney movie, but it did actually have a theatrical run. The Jungle Book is an all-time classic and while this is not a horrible movie, it is also not one of the better Disney movies either.
How to Download The Jungle Book 2
You can download or stream the film from Disney+ or another digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also our review of The Jungle Book from 2016.
The Movie Review
The movie takes place pretty quickly after the events of the original Jungle Book. Mowgli is now living in the man village after being adopted by the village chief, elder, or whatever you want to call him. Mowgli is struggling to fit in here with his new family. While he and they are trying to develop a relationship, something feels off.
Mowgli actually dreams of returning to his life in the jungle. The problem with Mowgli wanting to return to the jungle is that Shere Khan has returned and he is looking for revenge! This not only puts Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera in the sights of Shere Khan, but Mowgli’s new human family is now also on his hit list!
I think the premise of the story in The Jungle Book 2 is actually very solid. Mowgli wants to return to the jungle to be with his friends, but Shere Khan returning and wanting him dead is good stuff. However, the execution is not done all that well, the animation and look of the movie are far more Disney straight-to-DVD/video than of a big theatrical release.
To be fair, this was not made by the number one team at Disney and it did have a smaller budget. However, it is pretty notable that this is not a huge budget effort from Disney. I think that the voice cast is fun with Haley Joel Osment being Mowgli and John Goodman playing the role of Baloo.
Baloo from the original Jungle Book is one of my favorite Disney characters and I was not sure about someone else voicing him. However, John Goodman actually does a great job and I think that his performance is one of the highlights of the movie. I think if The Jungle Book 2 was released straight to DVD, I may have been more forgiving when it comes to the polish it has.
The movie moves along at a pretty brisk pace and as I said, the plot does have something good. It is a story of revenge and wishing to go back to the way things were are quite mature themes for a Disney movie. However, it just lacks the charm that the original Jungle Book had.
There are some people who hate this movie and see it as one of the worst Disney movies. I feel that much of the extreme hate this movie gets is a bit harsh. Is The Jungle Book 2 an all-time Disney classic? It is 100 percent not, but it is far from this horrendous abomination of a movie that some people would have you believe it is!
